It was great to have it available for free but we always knew this would change. We'll have to wait to learn how much Tesla will charge us. There is always the option to tether to your smart phone instead.

thatryan | July 7, 2013

Yeah wait, I posted in that topic and now I cant view the forum? What happened there...?

kjin7117 | July 7, 2013

I think charging is inevitable and sounds like it will come sooner than later. Maybe if enough owners are unhappy they will reconsider for current owners

AlMc | July 7, 2013

Did we all think it would be free forever?

thatryan; The OP made it private, so if you are not a current owner/have a deposit on a car you probably can't view/post. If you should be able to get into the thread then contact Tesla in the morning and they should be able to help you get into private threads

cfOH | July 7, 2013

@thatryan: It's a private thread; open only to owners.

@admjr: Yes, read that...didn't see enough new information to form an opinion, though. ;-)

Between tethering off my smartphone (at 4G) and sucking off my home's WiFi teat (at broadband speeds), I can't imagine I'm going to be willing to pay much for persistent, yet slower 3G. I mean, the cost of convenience only goes so far, and I hate paying a second time for something I've already purchased (i.e., wireless data).

Carefree | July 7, 2013

Just to be clear - I will not protest the idea of charging us for 3G service. Tesla did say from the very beginning that this would occur. I am thankful that we got a free "ride" for such a long time.

thatryan | July 7, 2013

Ahh thanks for clarifying, I did not realize that private meant owners only. Guess I better hurry up and decide to order.. ;)

tobi_ger | July 7, 2013

Has anyone information about EU owners having a free 3G period (e.g. 6/12 months?) or if it will expire when it does in the US? Or is it 12 months from delivery individually? Thanks.

soren | July 7, 2013

Isn't it possible to swap the Tesla 3G sim card with you own?
In Europe several mobile providers give you the option of an extra data sim card for free (using you cell phone data package).

MandL | July 8, 2013

The big question about depending on tethering of course, is whether you will still have "app access" to your car when it's not parked where you can connect to wifi. For me it will be a decision about how much I'm willing to pay for the ability to preheat / precool the car when I'm out and about.

Carefree | July 8, 2013

Mandl - yes that is still a big open question. Worst case scenario is that you buy a wifi hot spot as an extension to your wireless plan and leave that in the car. That way you should be able to communicate with the car from your smartphone even if Tesla cuts us off from their apps. It's too early to worry about it until we know the details of the connectivity package.

J.T. | July 8, 2013

@Carefree If I've learned anything from this forum it's that it is apparently never too early to worry about anything. :-)

GReese | July 8, 2013

Private thread = open only to people who Tesla bothered to grant access

Barely has anything to do with ownership.

Broken process.

ajamison | July 8, 2013

In my opinion threads like this that talk about the possibility of a feature becoming a paid thing in the future should be open to anyone if not post-able by anyone at least let possible owners read it.

I have pretty much made my decision on getting an Model S when i can afford to do so but had I not then a thread like this would help me price out what the final cost would be, what i mean is its unlikely if they charge for this in the future that you could opt out of the connectivity forcing all owners to pay for it.

Also clarification on what the connectivity package includes would be helpful when picking options, for example if the GPS needed the connectivity package to function but you also had to buy the tech package to get the GPS then your essentially paying twice once up front and then again monthly once the free trial period ends.

Pungoteague_Dave | July 8, 2013

MandL -

great point. I had planned on using my cell phone's 4G to power onboard communication, NAV, etc. while in the car, and wifi at home, but hadn't thought about communicating with the car when there's no phone or wifi nearby. I am currently in Africa and love that I can monitor the car sitting at the airport near DC, but will almost certainly need to buy a dedicated data package for the MS to keep that functionality after they introduce the charge plans. One more cell phone bill...

jcadman22 | July 8, 2013

Some options that I'm hoping for:
- early adopters (say VIN <5 to 10K) are grandfathered into a free or steeply discounted plan
- Tesla keeps the app back door open even if you don't sign up for a data package (i.e. rely on wi-fi or tethering while in the car)
- include a data plan for those who purchased maintenance plans, assuming Tesla is going to be polling the cars for stats and pushing updates

AmpedRealtor | July 8, 2013

@ jcadman22, I respectfully disagree. Those who bought first (VIN <5k or <10k) also enjoyed the longest period of free use. Those who have had free use of 3G the longest should be asked to pay for it FIRST, not be grandfathered in to a free or discounted package. It defies logic to suggest that those who have had the service free the longest should continue getting it for free. ????

TeslaTap.com | July 8, 2013

My understanding was Signature owners get 1 year free, and all others 3 months free (from when you took delivery). Outside of the USA, it may be different, but I suspect it will be similar.

I think Tesla has been ready to start charging for months, but has held off until the WiFi update rolled out. I suspect we'll see that in the next two months, and then they will roll out the paid connectivity options.

It all seems rather straight forward, and we're all getting it for free right now, which is quite nice!

tokuro | July 8, 2013

@cfOH how do I request access to these private postings? I do have a car but can't access it.

@tokuro, I submitted the form on the contatct page: http://www.teslamotors.com/contact first thing in the morning about a week ago and I had access by the end of the day.

cfOH | July 8, 2013

I wasn't added automatically, either. An email to ownership@teslamotors.com like @Amped said with my VIN did the trick within a day of my sending it. Good luck!

mikefa | July 8, 2013

NOTHING FREE WILL LAST VERY LONG WHEN THERE IS ABUSE. I remember AT&T used to offer unlimited data plan when iPhone first came out, then i noticed many people who signed up for the plan are on the web 24/7 hogging the bandwidth making it difficult for others to get on when needed. I don't blame AT&T for cutting out the unlimited data plan.